


To Understand

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Community: 1_million_words, Descent into Madness, Desert, Gen, Inspired by Photography, Introspection, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2013-07-27
Packaged: 2017-12-21 17:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Larry enters the desert</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Understand

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 1 Million Words Wednesday One Image prompt with [This image](http://s22.photobucket.com/user/haldoor/media/1_million_words/places-2_zps2856e454.jpg.html?sort=3&o=17)

Larry awoke as the sun's light was reflected into his eyes. His small hovel was situated beneath a lovely shaded outcropping, and he could sleep most of the day until the afternoon sun began to penetrate it. With the hottest part of the day over, however, he could then go about his survival tasks while some light remained, before spending the night in contemplation.

He had been in this valley for a week, with only the companionship of the distant coyote howls and the barren trees that filled his view. They were all stripped dead, but what was amazing to Larry was the fact that they existed at all. These were not the scrawny Joshua trees that thrived in the desert; these were real, honest to goodness, normal trees. Once upon a time they had needed water and they had grown leaves and they had probably looked just like all of the trees on campus.

 _So why_ , he questioned, _had they died?_ The fact that he was now in a desert was a fairly obvious answer, so after two days he had revised the question to _when had they died?_ Their bark was worm, but not petrified, indicating that they had been rather recent additions to the landscape, in geological terms. And the desert was not recent. Maybe an even greater question superseded the first two. _How had they come to grow there in the first place? And a corollary; how had they survived long enough to reach the size they were?_

These questions had pleasantly occupied his mind for the better part of the last week, as he attempted to be more aware of his surroundings. One thing that his time in space had taught him was the value of the earth, and the amazing wonder contained upon and within it. He was determined to explore that wonder, instead of locking himself back in his office, and this valley was his first stop.

The burnt orange hills, the almost pure white sandy ground, the twisted, knobby trees, and even the shady crevice in which he had positioned his backpack, were all a part of that wonder, and he wanted to understand them; really, truly _understand_ this small corner of the globe before he found another.

That was another thing that Charles would probably never understand, but Larry had accepted that. It was enough that _he_ wanted to understand, and enough that the hills, the valley, the trees, and the crevice let him.


End file.
